First week of work in Ocala National Forest

written by Anna Fasoli

Last week, I started my new job with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission out of Gainesville, Florida, where I will be working until July. I spent a lot of time in and around Gainesville back in 2007 and 2008 when I tracked Whooping Cranes in Florida, and I'm looking forward to spending even more time birding the Gainesville and Ocala areas! I am working for Dr. Karl Miller, who is the Upland Nongame Bird Leader, on a project monitoring the threatened "Southeastern" subspecies of the American Kestrel. This subspecies has been declining in Florida, and like most Florida birds, is faced with habitat loss due to development; in this case, Karl ties the decline to loss of natural nest cavities created by Northern Flickers, as there has also been a decline in that species. I'll be maintaining a large network of existing nest boxes, installing a few more, monitoring nest success, and banding nestlings. In addition, I'll be searching for woodpecker and kestrel nests in natural pine snags, and monitoring those nests. I am also helping out with color-banding and territory mapping of Florida Scrub-Jays, which is a species I've been wanting to work with for awhile!

Part of Ocala National Forest (Google Earth Image)

While we are planning our kestrel season, there is jay work to be done! Late last week, Karl set me loose with a work vehicle, a map and GPS, and some peanuts. I’ve been targeting 3 different open scrub areas of the Ocala National Forest, hoping to befriend the family groups of Florida Scrub-Jays that live in them. Survey work has already been done in these “patches,” and banding these birds will tell us more about each family group, and its success over the years in relation to other family groups in the Ocala National Forest. The patches are open areas of dry, upland well-drained sandy habitat consisting mostly of palmetto, turkey and myrtle oak, and other low shrubs. In addition to Florida Scrub-Jays, many other scrub-loving birds can be found here, including Eastern Towhees, Gray Catbirds, and wintering sparrows that like palmetto habitats. Surrounding these areas are large tracts of Longleaf pine stands, also good for wintering warblers and all of Florida’s woodpeckers, including the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpecker. Notice the “patch-work” effect in the Ocala National Forest due to intense management (lighter color areas are "scrub" patches and darker are "pine" patches.

Turkey Oak leaf and acorn

typical scrub/pine habitat edge of Ocala National Forest

On my first day of work in the scrub, I didn’t make it out until later in the day, when the jays were having their down-time for the day. Florida Scrub-Jays are initially active early in the morning until about 11:00, and again before sunset. While I didn't find any jays in the patches Karl had me visit, I did get that feeling that I was being watched; these jays rarely see people (the Ocala National Forest is extremely “under-birded”), and none of them have been banded. Banding a Florida Scrub-Jay isn’t as straight-forward as setting up a mist-net or bow-net; the jays must first be habituated to learn that “people=peanut.” Once jays learn to associate biologists with peanuts, their behavior can be manipulated (think of peanuts like chocolate for people…a very tasty treat). Peanuts will be continually fed to the jays over a period of time, while getting them used to the sight of the “trap,” a small wire cage that the jays will eventually be lured into. Right now, I am only using a “dummy” trap, and in time the jays will learn to hop inside it for a peanut.

Day two of training went a little better. I got our earlier in the morning, and found jays at most of my target areas. However, I was not welcomed at all. Usually, the entire family group would jump high up onto a tall snag, and just sit there and stare at me while I threw peanuts into the scrub.

Florida Scrub-Jay family group

Walking into the scrub to get closer to them only made them more nervous, and usually made them vanish into thin air after a loud series of distress calls. It was also hard to figure out family groups and territories. Groups of up to 7 jays seemed to be getting along fine, but from the surveys, I knew that the local family groups usually consist of 2-4 birds each. Breeding season isn’t here yet, so it seems like boundaries aren’t as defined. There was a promising group of jays far north in the forest. They were already present when I pulled in, so I didn’t have to use my jay playback to lure them in. In the large open area, I was able to set up my dummy trap while they watched. Unlike the other jays, they didn’t fly the opposite direction when I threw peanuts at them; instead, they watched the peanuts fall to the ground. One jay got the idea, and followed a peanut down into the scrub. I could hear the “tap tap tap” of the peanut breaking open, and soon the jay appeared with one of the raw peanuts in its bill. This bird held the peanut in its beak for almost half an hour, while it sat there and watched me!

Florida Scrub-Jay with peanut

After watching me for a long period of time, another jay decided to look for a peanut that got stuck mid-way in the scrub. It quickly got frustrated when it couldn’t find it, and it’s attention was caught by the other peanuts I was tossing in its direction. Very timidly, the jay hopped to the ground, and grabbed the peanut. Again, it disappeared into the scrub and I could hear the crackles of the peanut being broken into. Success!

Florida Scrub-jay timidly picking up a peanut

On subsequent visits to this group, the quick progress is obvious; jays appear as soon as I drive in, and more and more jays are becoming interested in the peanuts. Only 2 have taken them so far, but others have tried, and don’t seem to quite understand how to get the peanut yet (they are much more accustomed to looking for acorns on the ground, which makes up the majority of their diet). On subsequent days, I’ve been able to draw out more family groups and get much closer to individual jays, and this will only improve in time.

Florida Scrub-jay looking for peanuts